A Mad Woman’s Self-exploration —A Lacanian Interpretation of The Bell Jar

Abstract

The Bell Jar is a semi-autobiography novel written by Sylvia Plath, whose literary works are famous for pain, death, and selfexploration. Besides, Plath is a confessional writer and this novel seems to be Esther’s mad self-talk, but in the depth of the madness is a
profound self-exploration and self-construction. Esther’s self-searching is actually the process of finding subjectivity. However, she needs to
confirm herself by the existence of “the other”. Moreover, The Bell Jar constructed a woman’s road to growth, showing her rebellion against
a man-dominated society. This paper will use Lacanian psychoanalytic criticism theory to analyze The Bell Jar to understand the causes of
Esther’s internal struggle and the true significance of this mad woman’s tragedy.